MOUNT CARMEL - Major financial losses incurred by the Global Nuclear Disarmament Fund (GNDF) as a result of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe that devastated Japan earlier this year have put plans to establish GNDF's first Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) in the former Holy Spirit School in serious jeopardy.
The unexpected cost of code upgrades - including the installation of an elevator - contributed to the decision, said Matt Taylor, executive director for GNDF, in an e-mail response Tuesday to questions from The News-Item.
Taylor said there is no updated schedule for the project and that his organization is considering selling the building.
"We have had major losses of life, facilities and finances" because of the disaster, he said. "In addition, the many additional code requirements that were added to the project long after we had started means upwards of an additional $1 million in capital will be required unless there are reasonable exemptions from Labor and Industry, fire code officials, etc."
He added, "This seems to be a major problem when continuing public use of historical buildings in the U.S. under current code regulations, and is proving to be cost-prohibitive for many organizations like ours. Current codes designed for modern buildings would completely strip the historical, architectural and grand appeal from historical buildings such as ours."
Taylor concluded, "We are reluctantly considering the reality of perhaps having to sell the building unless we are able to obtain the promised exemptions."
Steve Bartos, who has served as a liaison for the GNDF project, said the organization expected some code requirements would be waived because the building was going to continue as a school. However, with changes including construction of dormitory rooms, there was an impact.
"Matt and his organization have been met with some serious challenges caused by the devastation in Japan earlier this year. He also is facing some financial issues with trying to bring the school building up to code. But he has still left the door open for the SSI program," Bartos said.
'It's unfortunate'
Tony Matulewicz, president of Mount Carmel Borough Council, said he was sorry to hear that the GNDF project may be abandoned.
Matulewicz said neither he nor other members of council have had direct communication with Taylor since the institute was proposed last year. But he was hopeful the project would become a reality because it would generate jobs and fill one of the many vacant properties in the borough.
"I was happy to hear they were coming into the borough, but I did notice there hasn't been any activity at the school building in a long time," Matulewicz said Wednesday. "It's unfortunate because the town could certainly use a new business that generates jobs."
Taylor, who spends many of his working days in San Francisco, Calif., and Tokyo, Japan, visited the borough in February to check on the project's progress.
Taylor said at the time that he expected a "soft opening" for the school by September, and said a press conference was likely to be held in May or June. But neither of those events occurred.
The building was "stabilized" with a new roof and mold removal, and work was done to repair the gymnasium floor and ceiling. A leaking roof caused water damage on all four floors of the brick building, located at Avenue and Poplar Street, just off the Viaduct.
'SSI for peace'
GNDF, an international organization founded by Nobel Prize winners and nuclear scientists who advocate peace and supervise the dismantlement of nuclear weapons, purchased the school in June 2009 for $70,000. Its plans involved having as many as 100 undergraduate and post-graduate college students train at the school to work at embassies, foreign ministries, the United Nations and other organizations around the globe.
Taylor, who volunteers in his 80-hour-per-week role with GNDF, said a strategic studies institute is typically a place where one studies war, but said this one would be an "SSI for peace."
He said he stumbled across Mount Carmel in a random property search on the Internet. Inspired when he read about the mix of European cultures that came to work the mines and produced a diversity that's represented in things such as Mount Carmel's Avenue of Churches, he pursued purchase of the building for GNDF.
In February, Taylor said he was excited about the progress being made. He said plans were being made to turn the former basement-level cafeteria into a café that would serve students and the public.
Taylor, who grew up in Japan with parents who were in the trade industry, said he expected GNDF to employ about 20 people in Mount Carmel and maintain a good relationship with local businesses in the renovation of the school.